25 Days
by ClaraOswald4Eva
Summary: A Christmas Once Upon A Time One-Shot. T for Tacos. Ignore the author's note.


**Welcome to my book of Christmas One Shots! I will update every day. Each day will be a different fandom (although a few will be repeated). I'm not too good at fluff, but I may attempt it a couple of times (*nudge*Percabeth*nudge*). Enjoy!**

**Note: I will change the catergory every day and post which catergory it will next be in at the bottom.**

_**Day One ~ Once Upon A Time**_

**Please keep in mind that I live in England and have only watched up to Series Three, Episode Three of Once Upon A Time.**

Regina and Mary Margaret were arguing. Again.

Emma honestly wanted to get up and punch one of them (or both of them, depending on how satisfying it was). Henry had been kidnapped by Peter Pan, and all they could do was bicker about petty disputes from the old days, back in the Enchanted Forest, which were completely pointless now.

She glanced around at the others in the clearing. David was standing a little back from the two arguing women, looking as if he was wondering if he should intervene or just leave them to it. Hook was leaning back against a tree surveying everyone else with a semi-drunken grin on his face. He was swinging a bottle of rum in his right hand and flipping his telescope in the other, which Emma thought was a pretty precarious arrangement.

There was one person missing from the scene. Henry.

She missed him. It felt as if a part of her had been scooped out, leaving a gaping hole behind which could never be filled. Neil was also gone, but he was dead. There was no way she would ever get him back. But maybe there was a chance for her to get her son back.

A forlorn sigh escaped Emma's lips. First her parents, then Neil, now Henry. Would she ever be allowed a quiet life with everyone she cared about?

"Alright?" a voice said beside her, making her jump out of her skin. She looked up to see Hook grinning slyly. "Mind if I sit here?"

Emma rolled her eyes and waved at the vacant space on the rock. "Be my guest."

As Hook made himself comfortable, she mulled things over in her head. Peter had called her the _lost girl_. It was true, however hard she tried to deny it, but she wished it wasn't. She had Mary Margaret and David now, as well as Henry, most of the residents of Storybrooke and - albeit reluctantly - Hook and Regina.

"You okay, darling?" Hook asked from beside her. She gave him an acidic glare, which he returned with a lopsided grin. "You look like you're troubled."

"You don't say," she replied cynically, rolling her eyes.

"Nah," Hook slurred. "What is it, though?"

"What do you think?"

"We'll find the boy don't you worry. Unless Regina and Snow rip each other apart first."

Emma allowed herself a small smile. She glanced back at her mother and the 'Queen'. The former looked ready to grab her homemade bow, the latter looked ready to shoot a few fireballs. Emma didn't understand why they couldn't at least _try_ to get along.

She was about to get up to stop their argument when the whole island shook, throwing her off balance. She fell sideways and face first into the mud.

Spluttering, she pulled herself onto her feet. At least the arguing had been silenced, as Mary Margaret and Regina had been thrown off their feet. Emma ran over and helped her parents up whilst Hook helped Regina up.

"What was that?" Mary Margaret said. Everyone shrugged and looked at Regina, but she, too, seemed to have no idea what had happened.

"Why are you looking at me?" she asked indignantly. "Just because it might've been magic doesn't mean that _I_ am automatically the expert. It could've been Pan or Gold or the mermaids or something else, but I have no idea!"

"Okay." Emma said, still feeling quite dizzy. "We should probably move out then, just in case it was something dangerous. Anyone disagree?"

When no one made any complaint, she nodded. "Good. Then let's move it."

Suddenly, before any of them could move at all, a loud noise sounded across the island, like the ring of a large church bell. It came again, and again, and Emma found herself counting the chimes. They stopped abruptly after twelve.

"Twelve chimes," she murmured. "That means midnight."

"What?" Regina's annoyed tone cut across her thoughts.

"The island doesn't usually do that, does it?" Emma asked, completely ignoring Regina.

"No," David said slowly. "It doesn't. But it sounded like a clock. What do you think it means?"

They were interrupted when something fell from the sky. It was a small silver box attached to a miniature striped parachute.

Emma lunged for it and snatched it out of the air before anyone else could start arguing over it. She quickly untied the strings of the parachute and threw it to the side, placing the box on the ground. The other four gathered around her.

"Well what is it?" Hook asked in genuine curiosity.

Emma was about to reach for the lid when Regina stopped her. "Wait. It could be trapped." she waved her hand over the box.

"Was that meant to do something?" Emma asked tiredly.

Regina opened her mouth to say something indignantly, but closed it again.

"What she means," Mary Margaret said in a triumphant tone, "is that it isn't trapped."

Emma nodded. Hands shaking in apprehension, she lifted the lid of the box and peered in.

Inside the box, lying on a small bed of leaves, was a long candle. It was white and had red numbers going down it - starting at one, finishing at twenty-four. Beside it was a box of matches. A note was tucked into the leaves underneath.

David pulled the note out and scanned it quickly.

"Well?" Regina demanded. "What does it say?"

David read it out. "I thought you might find this useful in the coming month. Peter Pan."

"He thought we might a candle useful?" Hook wondered. "Well that's a rubbish present."

_Presents. Twenty-four days. A candle._

"Of course!" Emma shouted out loud. "It's not just a candle. It's an advent candle." her voice turned quiet. "Today is the first of December."

She wasn't exactly sure why she felt so haunted by that. Maybe it was the fact that she would be spending Advent in Neverland. Or the fact that there was a very real possibility that she would be dead by the twenty-fifth.

However she felt, it didn't change the facts. Today was the beginning of the Christmas period and, for the first time, she didn't have to spend it on her own, feeling sorry for herself.

She could spend it with friends. With family.

**Next Catergory: Either Percy Jackson or NCIS or the Kane Chronicles or the Hunger Games.  
**


End file.
